Rack unit



April 1966 M. KAUFYMAN ETAL I 3,244,290

RACK uNrT Filed April 23, 1964 2 Sheets-Shaet l I N VEN TORS NORk/S K4 F14 April 5, 1966' M. KAUFMAN ETAL RACK UNIT Filed April 23, 1964 2Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS.

United States I Patent RACK UNIT Morris Kaufman, Morton Grove, and JamesR. Astorino,

Chicago, Ill., assignors to Ekco Products Company,

Chicago, 11]., a corporation of Delaware Filed Apr. 23, 1964, Ser. No.361,973 1 Claim. (Cl. 211-148) The present invention relates to a rackunit which incorporates a structural assembly featuring novel connectingmeans.

A rack unit embodying this invention provides for as sembly andinstallation at the point of use without requiring special tools orequipment and thus enabling the unit to be stored and shipped indismantled condition to said point of use prior to assembly. l

Another object of this invention is to provide a joint or connectionbetween members of the assembly inwhich a web on one of said members hasengagement with a pair of ears formed integrally with a second member;

A further object of this invention resides in the provision of a strongand rigid connection between structural members of a rack unit. A

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a rack unit incorporating a structuralassembly in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary top perspective view of rack unitstructural members as the same appear when in operatively connectedrelation.

FIG. 3 is a similar view showing the rack unit members preparatory toassembly in operatively connected relation.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary vertical section taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 5.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged front elevation of the members of the rack unit asshown in FIG. 2.

A rack unit embodying a structural assembly exemplifying the features ofthis invention, as shown in FIG. 1, includes oppositely arranged framesdefined by upright members interconnected in spaced apart parallelrelation by horizontally extending rail members 12. Each rail memberincludes an upright wing 13 and a horizontal wing 14 extending from thelower edge of wing 13 in a direction away from the upright member 10 towhich the rail member is operatively joined.

A fixed connection between each member 10 and the rail member associatedtherewith is established by means of complementary holding sectionsprovided integrally with each of said members. As best shown in FIG. 3,the holding section of member 12 is defined by a pair of equallydimensioned ears 15 and 16 which. are severed from the member 12 along aline 17 which extends parallel to the longitudinal axis of the member12. The ears 15 and 16 are spaced apart lengthwise of said shear line 17via a shear line intersecting the upper edges of wing 13 and shear line17 to form a gap 18 therebetween and said ears are bent to occupyaligned positions in a plane offset from the surface of the wing 13bordering the area containing the ears 15 and 16 in the direction of theupright member 10 to which the rail members containing said ears areultimately connected. The holding section of the upright member 10includes a web 19 which is formed by an area bridging the distanceseparating a pair of equally dimensioned slots 20 formed in the member10 in spaced apart relation extending lengthwise to the rail member 12associated therewith. The slots 20 can be described as having an upperportion 21 and a lower portion 22. The upper portion of each slot isenlarged in the direction of its companion slot to provide an entrancearea having mating relation with the ears 15 and 16 of the member 12when said ears are presented horizontally toward said entrance area soas to accept said ears within the confines of said entrance area. Itwill be noted that the offset condition of the cars 15 and 16 relativeto the surface of 3,244,290 Patented Apr. 5, 1966 the wing 13 borderingsaid ears as to permit the surface of the ears 15 and 16 facing in thedirection from which the ears are admitted to said entrance area of theslots 20 as to be vertically aligned with the area opposite the surfaceof the web 19 which faces away from the position occupied by the railmember 12. The ears 15 and 16 are therefore free to drop into a seatingarea of the slots 20 defined by the lower portion 22 of said slots so asto become interlocked with the surface of the web 19 opposite thereto.The ears 15 and 16 are accordingly retained against horizontalwithdrawal. from the slots 20 when occupying said seating area of theslots 20. The contour of the seating portion of the slots 20 and theportion of thewears contained therein is in such conformity as tothereby establish a tightly locked connection between the rail member 12and the upright 10.

While such locked connection is provided between the .web 19 and theears 15 and 16 via the slots 20, an indentation 23 formed on the wing 13along the shear line 17 has upward engagement with a downwardlyfacingshoulder 24 provided by an indentation in the surface of the uprightmember 10 opposite thereto to prevent upward movement of the cats 15 and16 from a position in the seating area of the slots 20 to the entrancearea of the said slots.

The web 19 is also provided with an integral central rib 25 along a lineextending above and below the portion of the web which separates theenlarged upper portions of the slots 20 so as to furnish addedresistance to any strains applied to said web 19 under force of a loadcarried by the horizontal wing 14 of the member 12. It will be notedthat the rib defines an elongated indentation to form a depressionfacing the area occupied by the wing 13 of the rail member and ispositioned in vertical alignment with the locking indentation 23 on thewing 13.

Reference numeral 26 designates a bar having opposite ends thereofacceptable in openings 27 formed in the upright members 10 so as toestablish a rigid link between opposite frames of the rack unit as shownin FIG, 1. A notch 28 formed in each of the ends of the bar 26 hasdownward locked engagement with the lower edge of the opening 27opposite thereto to maintain the bar 26 against relative horizontalmovement while the underside of the horizontal wing 14 directly upwardof said bar 26 presents a surface with which the bar 26 has engagementto retain the bar against upward withdrawal from an engaged positionwith the lower edge of the opening 27 containing said bar.

While there has been illustrated and described a particular form ofconstruction embodying the invention, it is to be understood that it isnot intended to thereby limit the invention. Various other modificationsof the invention, Without departing from the spirit thereof, will becomeapparent to those familiar with the art involved.

What is claimed is:

A structural assembly including a pair of upright members, a rail memberhaving a first wing and a second wing and means including holdingsections on said members operatively connecting said rail member infixed bridging relation to said upright members with the first wing ofsaid rail member in face to face contact with said upright members andsaid second wing extending from the lower edge of said first wing, saidholding section of the upright member being defined by a web bridgingthe distance between a pair of slots formed in each upright member, eachof said slots having an entrance area and a seating area forming adownward extension of said entrance area, said holding section of saidrail member being defined by a pair of ears lanced only from an area ofthe rail member bordering the upper edge of the first wing of said railmember via a first shear line extending lengthwise of said rail, and asecond shear line intersecting said upper edge and which ears are spacedapart lengthwise of said first shear line and'occupying alignedpositions in a plane ofiset from the surface of the wing bordering thearea containing said ears, in the direction of the uprightmem- =ber withwhich said wing has contact, said ears and said entrance area havingsuch mating relation as to freely admit said ears to said slots via saidentrance area without interference With said Web and said ears :and saidseating area and the portion of the web bordering said seating areahaving such mating relation as to permit said ears to move from saidentrance area to said seating area but said latter portion of the webbeing dimensioned at such variance to said ears measured lengthwise ofthe distance between said ears as to establish engagement between saidlatter portion ofthe web and said ears along surfaces of the ears whichface in the direction from which said ears have admission to saidentrance area of the slots whereby said ears are retained againstwithdrawal from said slots when said ears are in said seating area ofsaid slots except by movement of said ears from said seating area tosaid entrance area, a locking indentation formed in an area of saidfirst wing of said rail member bordering said first shear line, anindentation in the surface of the upright member defining adownwardly'facing shoulder with which said locking indentation on therail member opposite thereto has engagement to prevent movement of saidears to said entrance area from a position in said seating area, anelongated indentation provided in said web, said elongated indentationextending above and below that .part of the web which separates theentrance areas of said slots and defining a depression facing toward thearea occupied by the wing of the rail member with which said web isoperatively associated and in vertically aligned relation with thelocking indentation in said latter wing of the rail member.

v References Cited by the Examiner V UNITED STATES PATENTS CLAUDE A. LEROY, Primary Examiner.

25 W. D, LOULAN, Assistant Examiner.

